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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for atrocities stemming from her crackdown on protests led by students which caused her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the turmoil during 2024.

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had called for tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection ahead of the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative informed news organizations.

The student-led uprising during 2024 started with requests to remove government job quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of others, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader verified by external reviews earlier this year indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those killed during the protests stated to news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

Lucky Akther, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "carried out before the election".

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

After her departure, an temporary leadership led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Hasina's political party, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the election.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but until now India has shown no willingness to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am disappointed," he continued.

Recently, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the Awami League has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to media outlets. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this country."

The activist added that the punishment was not resolution for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We work with numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for Awami League to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "an expression of regret occurs and a distancing from the former leader and the old leadership," he expressed.